Foxface One-Shot
by KookieKat
Summary: "I just wanted to save my brother. And I did, I just couldn't save myself." After Foxface is reaped in the Hunger Games she leaves her brother behind, for the games and forever. (I wrote this one-shot for a competition and unfortunately had to keep it around 2000 words so ended up having to cut out a lot of the detail apart from specific scenes.)


I wake up in the night several times. Strangely my brother is sleeping like a log. He never slept this well last year, of course that was his first reaping, that was the first time he had the chance to go to the Hunger Games. It's his second year, my fourth. His name will only be in twice, I've never let him take any tesserae. But I have to take it for 4 people: me, my brother, and my parents. So my name will be entered 16 times.

When I wake again, I can see the sun shining through my window. Work is cancelled today for the reaping and so is school. Everybody at school hates me anyway because I'm smarter than them. They think that because I'm smart, I won't get picked. That the Capitol needs people like me. Their wrong, but I wish they right.

As I lay there gazing out the window, a small sob escapes my mouth. Luckily my brother, who is in the bed next to mine, doesn't wake. I need to be strong; I know he'll crumble if either of us gets picked. And the worst thing is if he gets picked, I can't volunteer for him.

I get up and walk over to the small dresser I share with the rest of my family. I pull out a soft blue dress and lay it on my bed. My reaping dress, it's the same very year. We can't afford another one, new or otherwise. I go through to our make shift bathroom and do my best to clean the grime from my body.

After I'm out and dried, I dry myself with a rough towel then wrap it around myself and sneak back into my room, grab my dress, then go back into the bathroom and pull it on over my still wet hair. I do my best to untangle the long red strands with my fingers and dry it with the towel but it's still damp once I'm finished. I then go back to my room and pull out a pair of flat black shoes that I grew out of almost two years ago.

I walk towards my brother's bed and gently shake him till he opens his eyes sleepily. 'Is it today?' He asks. He's talking about the reaping; I can hear the fear in his voice, see how his body is shaking.

'Yeah, it's today.' I say pulling him into my arms as he sits up. He wraps his hands around my back and holds on tightly. 'It's going to be ok.' He nods. I get up and hand him some straight black trousers and a white shirt. 'Now go clean up, you stink.' I say trying to lighten the mood. He gives a small laugh and heads out. When he comes back in his hair is wet and he has the towel hung over his shoulder. I take it from him and use it to dry his short red hair. Then I tuck in his shirt that he's left hanging out and kiss him on the head. 'Come on. We've got to go.' He puts his hand on his hip and holds out his elbow to me. I link my arm through his and we walk out and towards the square.

When we get there I pull him to the side. 'You ok?' I ask because he is still shaking.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He says giving my arm a squeeze.

'Good,' I say even though I know he's not. 'Well, I'll see you after. I love you.' I give him a hug then we split off to sign in. He goes to his section and I go to mine with the other sixteen year old girls.

The escort walks out of the Justice Building with district five's mayor and two victors behind her. She walks over to the mike and the video that plays every year starts. Once it's finished she says 'Okay, ladies first.' And walks over to the large glass bowl to her left, filled with tiny slips of paper. She reaches in, pulls one out and walks back over to the front of the stage. She flattens the paper and calls out my name. My jaw drops and I inhale quickly. I can't cry, I tell myself. So I hold my chin high as I walk to the stage. Half way there I look back to see my brother walking out of his group. Staring at me, mouth open, silent tears rolling down his cheeks, he's about to run after me but I shake my head and mouth a single word 'no'. He nods slowly and goes back to his position in the crowd. I go up on stage and then the boy is called, I don't know who he is. He comes up, we shake hands and then we're ushered through the doors to the Justice Building.

Only my brother comes to see me, my parents are probably still asleep. They do this every year; try to pretend it doesn't happen, that the games don't exist. He comes in and runs straight into my arms. He's visibly shaking and crying hard. 'It's going to be ok.' I tell him even though all I want to do is break down in tears.

'I love you too.' He tells me. A tear rolls down my cheek. This is the first time he's ever said he loves me and I know that he truly means it. He pulls away and hands me a small silver chain. How much this would have cost, I don't know, but I would guess more than we can afford. 'Mum and dad bought it when you turned twelve, I know it's not much but it was just in case. I ran home and got it.' I close my fingers around it.

'It's perfect. Thank you.' I say before the peacekeeper's come in and take him out.

The car ride is uneventful, just a lot of cameras and crowds. On the train we have dinner straight away. Everything is delicious but I like the chicken best. It comes in small chunks with an orange sauce. After I'm finished I go to my room and get into the bed, fully clothed. Breakfast was just as good as dinner. And we arrive in the capitol shortly after. That was a short trip. When we get out the flashes from the cameras hurt my eyes, luckily we get to a car and are arriving at the training centre in no time.

The next few days go by in a flash. And before I know it, we're already sitting around a large TV waiting to hear our training scores. I get a five. I thought I would have gotten more than that. I go straight to bed afterwards, the games begin tomorrow.

I don't remember much from the training scores till now. I'm hidden under a tree in the arena next to the careers camp, starving and cold. Something's made them move but I wait till they're gone to get up. I recreate their steps to get to the pile of supplies they keep in a mass pyramid. I fall over and almost have a heart attack when my hands hit the ground but it doesn't blow. I only grab a few items so that they don't notice they have been stolen from. I run back into the trees and after a few minutes hear a massive explosion, followed by multiple smaller ones. Someone's gone and blown themselves up. I can feel myself smiling because that also means that the career's supplies are gone. I silently thank whoever it was and find a quiet spot to settle down for the night.

In the morning I head back to the careers camp. What were once their supplies is just rubble now, but I'm able to get a pot and a few other items that survived. I replenish my water by the lake and laugh to myself; I might have a chance at winning now. There's a sound coming from the long grass, so I run. I don't know what it was but I don't care. I run to a safe spot in the forest next to the camp, that way I can keep an eye on things. I have a drink of my water and a bite of an apple I grabbed the other day. Then fall asleep. It's a restless night.

The next day is uneventful. There's nothing to do but wait. I end up dozing off; it's the afternoon when I wake. I must have slept most of day. I have a drink and another bite of my apple. When a cannon goes off, it makes me jump. I wonder who it was. I see the district eleven girl in the sky tonight, she was only twelve. I hate that the Capitol does this, that they do it every year.

Before I know it Claudius Templesmith's voice is booming through the arena. I don't care when he says that two tributes can win if they're from the same district. My district partner is dead. I fill my water again and return to my safe spot under a large tree. It's quite comfortable.

I'm awoken by the promise of a feast. Lucky I'm right next to the cornucopia. I need to move quickly, who knows when another tribute will get here. Unless someone else has the same idea, I should be safe. I collect all of my things and make sure there's no one around before running as fast as I can across the open field. I settle down behind an empty weapons stand.

As I'm sitting down I see something shining from under the corner of the stand. I reach over and pick it up. It's a small knife; I run my finger along the edge and feel a slight pain. I look at my finger and see a cut glistening with fresh blood. At least it's sharp. I wipe away the blood on my trouser and clutch the knife to my chest. I won't fall asleep.

And I don't. I watch as the sun begins to peek into the cornucopia. I position myself at the front. As soon as the ground parts and the table emerges, I'm out. I run to the table and grab the bag with the number five on it. And I keep running till I'm gone, through the trees. When I stop to rest, thighs burning I hear another cannon. And about ten minutes later see Katniss run by me. She doesn't see me, so I decide to follow her.

Suddenly she darts into a small hole in some rocks. There must be a cave, maybe that's where Peeta has been hiding. You hear a lot when you spy on the careers. I camp in a tree nearby and watch as the girl from district two appears and then fades forever.

There's some rustling that awakens me. I see Katniss and Peeta emerging from their cave. Once they are out of site, I climb out of the tree and follow them. It's easy enough because of how much noise they are making. They separate, so I decide to follow Peeta. He's picking berries. Nightlock.

At least that's what a few of the districts call them. I've heard that District 8 calls them 'Deathbell'. And Peeta's planning to eat them. I have to stop him. If I don't win, and it looks like I'm not going to. I want him to. During training I saw him. He was so kind and incredibly talented in camouflage and he's in love. He loves Katniss.

But I can't reveal myself. He could throw a knife and I would never be able to stop him. So I pluck some nightlock from a nearby bush, look into the sky and whisper 'I'm sorry.' I hate that I'm leaving him but I can't fight, I'm not strong enough. I let a last tear roll down my cheek before I put the three perfect berries in my mouth and chew.

The last thing feel is my body hitting the ground, the last thing I see is Peeta through the bushes, the last thing I think about is my brother and the last thing I hear, is a cannon.


End file.
